129. Conclusion to the Series: Redemption
of the Body and Sacramentality of Marriage

By Pope John Paul II

1. As a whole, the catechesis which I began over four
years ago and which I am concluding today can be summed up under the title:
"Human love in the divine plan," or more precisely, "The redemption of the body
and the sacramentality of marriage." The catechesis can be divided into two
parts.

The first part was dedicated to a study of Christ's words,
which prove to be suitable for opening the current theme. These words were
analyzed at length in the totality of the Gospel text. Following the
long-lasting reflection it was fitting to emphasize the three texts that were
analyzed right in the first part of the catechesis.

First of all there is the text in which Christ referred to
"the beginning" in his discussion with the Pharisees on the unity and
indissolubility of marriage (cf. Mt 19:8; Mk 10:6-9). Next there are the words
Christ spoke in the Sermon on the Mount concerning concupiscence as adultery
committed in the heart (cf. Mt 5:28). Finally, there are the words reported by
all the synoptic Gospels in which Christ referred to the resurrection of the
body in the other world (cf. Mt 22:30; Mk 12:25; Lk 20:35).

The second part of the catechesis was dedicated to the
analysis of the sacrament based on the Letter to the Ephesians (Eph 5:21-33).
This goes back to the biblical beginning of marriage expressed in the words of
Genesis: "A man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two
of them become one body" (Gn 2:24).

The catechesis of the first and second parts repeatedly
used the term "theology of the body." In a certain sense, this is a "working"
term. The introduction of the term and the concept of the theology of the body
was necessary to establish the theme, "The redemption of the body and the
sacramentality of marriage," on a wider base. We must immediately note that the
term "theology of the body" goes far beyond the content of the reflections that
were made. These reflections do not include multiple problems which, with regard
to their object, belong to the theology of the body (as, for example, the
problem of suffering and death, so important in the biblical message). We must
state this clearly. Nonetheless, we must also recognize explicitly that the
reflections on the theme, "The redemption of the body and the sacramentality of
marriage," can be correctly carried out from the moment when the light of
revelation touches the reality of the human body (that is, on the basis of the
theology of the body). This is confirmed, among other ways, by the words of
Genesis: "The two of them become one body." These words were originally and
thematically at the basis of our argument.

Reflecting on the Sacrament of Marriage

2. The reflections on the sacrament of marriage were
carried out by considering the two dimensions essential to this sacrament (as to
every other sacrament), that is, the dimension of the covenant and grace, and
the dimension of sign.

Throughout these two dimensions we continually went back
to the reflections on the theology of the body, reflections linked to the key
words of Christ. We went back to these reflections also when we took up, at the
end of this whole series of catecheses, the analysis of the Encyclical Humanae
Vitae.

The doctrine contained in this document of the Church's
modern teaching is organically related to both the sacramentality of marriage
and the whole biblical question of the theology of the body, centered on the key
words of Christ. In a certain sense we can even say that all the reflections
that deal with the redemption of the body and the sacramentality of marriage
seem to constitute an ample commentary on the doctrine contained in the
Encyclical Humanae Vitae.

This commentary seems quite necessary. In fact, in
responding to some questions of today in the field of conjugal and family
morality, at the same time the encyclical also raised other questions, as we
know, of a biomedical nature. But also (and above all) they are of a theological
nature: they belong to that sphere of anthropology and theology that we have
called the theology of the body.

The reflections we made consist in facing the questions
raised with regard to the Encyclical Humanae Vitae. The reaction that the
encyclical aroused confirms the importance and the difficulty of these
questions. They are reaffirmed also by later pronouncements of Paul VI where he
emphasized the possibility of examining the explanation of Christian truth in
this area.

In addition, the Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris
Consortio, fruit of the 1980 Synod of Bishops on "The Role of the Christian
Family," confirms it. The document contains an appeal, directed especially to
theologians, to elaborate more completely the biblical and personalistic aspects
of the doctrine contained in Humanae Vitae.

To gather the questions raised by the encyclical means to
formulate them and at the same time to search again for the answer to them. The
doctrine contained in Familiaris Consortio requires that both the formulation of
the questions and the search for an adequate answer focus on the biblical and
personalistic aspects. This doctrine also points out the trend of development of
the theology of the body, the direction of the development, and therefore also
the direction of its progressive completion and deepening.

Biblical aspects

3. The analysis of the biblical aspects speaks of the way
to place the doctrine of today's Church on the foundation of revelation. This is
important for the development of theology. Development, that is, progress in
theology, takes place through a continual restudying of the deposit of
revelation.

The rooting of the doctrine proclaimed by the Church in
all of Tradition and in divine revelation itself is always open to questions
posed by man. It also uses the instruments most in keeping with modern science
and today's culture. It seems that in this area the intense development of
philosophical anthropology (especially the anthropology that rests on ethics)
most closely faces the questions raised by the Encyclical Humanae Vitae
regarding theology and especially theological ethics.

The analysis of the personalistic aspects of the doctrine
contained in this document has an existential significance for establishing what
true progress, that is, the development of man, is. In fact, throughout all
modern civilization—especially in Western civilization—there is an occult and at
the same time an explicit enough tendency to measure this progress on the basis
of "things," that is, material goods.

The analysis of the personalistic aspects of the Church's
doctrine, contained in Paul VI's encyclical, emphasizes a determined appeal to
measure man's progress on the basis of the person, that is, of what is good for
man as man—what corresponds to his essential dignity.

The analysis of the personalistic aspects leads to the
conviction that the encyclical presents as a fundamental problem the viewpoint
of man's authentic development. This development is measured to the greatest
extent on the basis of ethics and not only on technology.

"Humanae Vitae"

4. The catechesis dedicated to the Encyclical Humanae
Vitae constitutes only one part, the final part, of those which dealt with the
redemption of the body and the sacramentality of marriage.

If I draw your attention especially to this last
catechesis, I do so not only because the subject dealt with is more closely
connected to our contemporaneity. But I do so above all because of the fact that
questions come from it which in a certain sense permeate the sum total of our
reflections. It follows that this last part is not artificially added to the sum
total but is organically and homogeneously united with it. In a certain sense,
that part which in the complex arrangement is located at the end is at the same
time found at the beginning of this sum total. This is important from the point
of view of structure and method.

Even the historical moment seems to have its significance.
The present catechesis was begun in the period of preparation for the 1980 Synod
of Bishops on the theme of marriage and the family ("The role of the Christian
family"), and ends after the publication of the Exhortation Familiaris Consortio,
which is a result of the work of this Synod. Everyone knows that the 1980 Synod
also referred to the Encyclical Humanae Vitae and fully reconfirmed its
doctrine.

Nevertheless, the most important moment seems to be that
essential moment when, in the sum total of the reflections carried out, we can
precisely state the following: to face the questions raised by the Encyclical
Humanae Vitae, especially in theology, to formulate these questions and seek
their reply, it is necessary to find that biblical-theological sphere to which
we allude when we speak of the redemption of the body and the sacramentality of
marriage. In this sphere are found the answers to the perennial questions in the
conscience of men and women, and also to the difficult questions of our modern
world concerning marriage and procreation.